Keeping Up With the Joneses
by A Chance of Pickles
Summary: Indiana Jones and now his family are sucked into another adventure when the fate of the world is threatened. Title and rating may be subject to change. Mutt/OC
1. The First Day

The sun was only just rising when Dr. Indiana Jones began his day. His wife, Marion was fast asleep as he made his way into the bathroom to shower. By the time he was out and dressed, he could smell breakfast in the kitchen. Years of motherhood had made Marion quite the cook.

"Indy!" She called from the kitchen. "Can you get Mutt down here? I have to watch the eggs." Indy sighed.

"Sure, honey." He made his way to his son's bedroom and knocked on the door. "Mutt, breakfast."

On a normal day, the younger Jones would be out of bed and wolfing down breakfast, but today was different. Today was the first day of the new semester. Technically, it was the third day as he had managed to escape the first two days of school by leaving in the morning on his bike and returning at the appropriate time while actually out at the shop or with his friends.

"I'm not hungry." Mutt growled from behind the door. His voice was muffled by his pillow.

"Come on now, your mother went through all the trouble of making it for you. You need to be alert during your classes." Indy told him.

"I ain't going to no stinkin' classes."

"Yes you are. You've got five minutes to get downstairs or I'm dragging you out myself."

"I ain't going."

"Five minutes, Mutt. Five minutes."

Indy sat down at the dining room table where a plate of eggs and toast were awaiting him. A dish of sausage was settled in the middle of the table. As he made an attempt to take a bite, out of nowhere Marion appeared and slapped his hand.

"Wait for Mutt. Where is that boy?"

"He'll be down." He tried to eat again only to be thwarted once more.

"I asked you to get him down." Marion said, exasperated. "Mutt, get down here right now! And you'd better be dressed!"

"No!" Was the wall muffled reply.

"Mutt, I mean it!"

"Listen to your mother, boy." Indy interjected.

The sound of something hard hitting the wall was followed by a bit of rustling and incomprehensible swearing and finally the angry stomping of feet down stairs. Mutt appeared in the archway in a suit and tie, all freshly pressed. His hair was combed back as usual and he had a sour look on his face.

Indy tried to stifle a laugh. Marion smacked him with an oven mitt.

"Don't you look handsome." She crooned. Mutt simply glared at her as he yanked off his tie and tried to unbutton his shirt.

"I'm not going. I look like an idiot."

"Honey, you look fine, now eat your breakfast."

"Mom, no. I'm not gonna eat and I'm not going to school."

"Grow up, Mutt. You're not six." Indy cut in. Mutt tried to reply but his father gave him a warning look. "Eat."

The younger snatched up a piece of toast and stuffed it into his mouth whole.

"Happy?" He snapped through the food. Indy smirked and went on with his breakfast. The pair at in silence until the father took his plate and placed it in the sink

"Hurry up, I've got to drive you-" He began only to be cut off.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. If I have to go I'm going by myself."

"Really now, sport? And where exactly have you been the last two days of class? Your professors told me you were absent. All of them."

Mutt's face grew surly again. "I don't see the point in going at all; I'm just going to flunk out of all my classes anyway." He muttered.

"What was that?" Indy asked.

"Nothing."

* * *

Mutt ducked as Indy pulled into a spot in the Marshall College teacher's parking lot. The elder Jones rolled his eyes and got out of the car, going around to open the passenger side door.

"Out." He said. Mutt checked to see if anyone was around to see him before quickly jumping out of the car and trying to get away. Indy stopped him and held out his hand. "Give it to me." Mutt fished through his pockets and handed his father the switchblade. "Thank you."

"Can I go now?" Mutt asked.

"Yes, now go on and don't be late to class." Indy told him. Mutt hurried off in the direction of the main entrance leaving Indiana to gather his lesson plans.

* * *

Review plz


	2. Not So Terrible

Mutt dragged his feet through the halls miserably until arriving at his first class, algebra. He could honestly say, there was not much he could care less about. Unfortunately, he hadn't been given much say in which classes he signed up for. That job was taken care of by his parents, albeit without his consent. He opened the door and trudged in. The man he presumed to be the teacher was just finishing up the attendance.

"Can I help you?" He asked, looking up. He wore coke bottle glasses that made his eyes appear much larger than they were and was sporting a bright red bowtie. While his face was not very aged, he was already losing his hair. Mutt vowed never to criticize his father's attire again.

"I'm in this class. I'm Mutt Will- Jones." Mutt told him, still not completely used to his proper surname. The professor raised and eyebrow.

"Henry Walton Jones III?" He asked.

"It's Mutt."

The students watched in silence as the two glared at each other for a moment until the teacher broke his glance.

"Mr. Jones, please take a seat." Mutt looked around at the class. There didn't appear to be any free from students or bags.

"Hey teach, there aren't any more." He said.

"It's Professor Lisbon." The teacher replied. He scanned the class for a moment before checking the attendance. "Miss Tobal, would you mind sitting with Mr. Jones here?"

A brunette near the door looked to the teacher. She would have been pretty if not for the look of disgust on her face. Mutt recognized her as the girl who had punched him at the diner several months earlier.

"No way, he's not sitting any where near me." She snapped, glaring at Mutt.

"Mr. Howard?"

"No greaser is gonna be sitting with me."

"Mr. Smith?" A red haired boy with a face full of freckles in the back of the class looked up.

"Sure." He wheezed. Mutt sighed and plodded to his new seat. Lisbon waited until Mutt was seated to begin the lesson.

"I'm Brad." The redhead said holding out his hand. Mutt reluctantly reached for it.

"Mutt." They shook hands. Brad then proceeded to remove several pencils from his bag and organize them in size order. Mutt sighed yet again. It was going to be a long, long day.

* * *

By midday Mutt was deeply regretting only eating a piece of toast for breakfast. His stomach rumbled loudly during his French class causing some students to giggle.

"_Monsieur Jones, le mangez de vous de que de suggère de j'avant du classe de ma d'à de venir._" The teacher, Professor Campbell told him in his Scottish brogue. "_Je ne peux pas avoir vous interrompant mes étudiants simplement parce que vous avez choisi de sauter le petit déjeuner._"

"Uh… oui?" Mutt said, confused. The class snickered. "Sorry, I didn't get that far in the chapter."

Campbell clicked his tongue. "I suggest you do that tonight then."

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity Mutt was able to eat. He rushed into the enormous on campus cafeteria only to find a proportionally long line. He groaned and began surveying the line. Near the front he saw a familiar tuft of ginger hair. He hurried over to the boy

"Hey, Brent, right?" He asked when he got there.

"Actually it's-" Brad began.

"Great, whatever. Look, let me go before you? I'm starving."

"Well, that's not how the line works…"

"Man, I'm seriously starving here. If I don't get something fast, I** will** eat you. Swear to god." Brad had a look of genuine fear on his face but Mutt was not in the mood for explaining his exaggeration. He paid for his food and began looking for a place to sit. The place was packed and there was not a single empty table leaving Mutt with the difficult task of choosing who to eat with. Everyone seemed to know everyone else. Even Brad was seated with his own little clique. He couldn't sit with the jocks, they'd kick his ass sooner than look at him. Nor could he sit with the art kids or hang on hipsters. When all hope seemed lost, he came across a nearly empty table near a window where one girl was seated. She was apparently trying to eat and do school work at the same time. Mutt smiled. With the exception of Molly Tobal, most girls liked him. He made his way over to her.

"You mind if I sit here?" He asked with a smile, trying to be a little more polite than he usually was. The girl's green eyes met his hazel ones.

"Go ahead. I'm Vanessa by the way." She said.

"Mutt Jones." He replied sitting down beside her. "What are you studying for?"

"German. My teacher assigned some reading and I had to baby-sit my brothers last night so I didn't have any time." She sighed. "I don't even know why I'm taking that class. I doubt I'll ever need to use it."

"I know exactly what you mean." Mutt was sick of talking about school. "You've got brothers? How many?"  
Vanessa smiled.

* * *

"So how was your first day, sport?" Indiana asked when his son closed the passenger side door of the Plymouth Coupe. "As terrible as you said it would be?"

"Not completely."

* * *

First I have to say, I had a minor seizure when I checked my e-mail. Thanks to all my reviewers! Secondly, I know it's still a bit slow, but it's gonna start picking up in the next few chapters.


	3. Rooftops

* * *

Mutt smiled as a cool autumn breeze whipped across his face while he rode along the street parallel to Marshall College looking for Vanessa. After much arguing he was finally allowed to ride his motorcycle to and from school. Although he wouldn't show it, he was eager to show off his bike. He soon found Vanessa talking to a redhead and another blonde.

"Hey, Vanessa!" He called, trying to focus on both her and the road at the same time. "Vanessa!"

She and her friends turned to see Mutt pulling up to the curb. Vanessa had a look of excited surprise.

"Is that your bike?" She asked incredulously. Mutt had recently done a bit of work on the motorcycle and was pleased to say it looked better than the day he got it. This of course wasn't all too difficult a task since he had purchased it at 16 for fifteen dollars off a man who was about to trash it.

"Yeah," he told her proudly. "You wanna lift?"

"Seriously?" She asked, her eyes lighting up. She turned to her friends. "You don't mind, do you?"

The girls had been ogling Mutt with almost mindless smiles as they twirled hair around their fingers.

"Bridget, Susie? Hello?" Vanessa tried to get their attention in vain. Mutt smirked and revved the engine, snapping the girls out of their trance.

"What?" Bridget, the redhead asked.

"Bye." Vanessa said as she hopped on the back of the motorcycle and wrapped her arms around Mutt's waist before speeding off.

After about twenty minutes of zipping through the suburban streets of Hartford they arrived outside the white picket fence of Vanessa's house. The pair got off the motorcycle. Mutt looked around to get an idea of his surroundings. Neighbors watched him through cracks in blinds and slits in curtains with fearful glances.

"Nice neighborhood." He said sarcastically. Vanessa sighed.

"Just ignore them; they flip whenever they see me wearing earrings." She told him. "Just smile and wave." She added, waving to one woman with a phony smile on her lips. When she turned away the smile dropped. "Let's get the hell out of here."

She led Mutt up the walkway past an ancient oak tree and a dog house that matched the human counterpart. Vanessa opened the door revealing a large, clean living room in all pale colors. About a dozen pairs of shoes were gathered by the entrance. Mutt could hear the sound of a television in another room. Vanessa looked around quickly.

"You can look around, I'll be right back." She said before hurrying up the staircase on the opposite side of the room. Mutt looked around the room, unable to touch the plants that sat upon an end table. He ultimately ended up in the den adjacent to the kitchen. In the den were nine boys, ranging from toddlers to young teens. Three of them were seated on a sofa along with a pair of identical toddlers. The other four were sprawled across the floor, two with their heads resting upon a large white and brown dog. The boys didn't notice Mutt in the archway until the dog looked up and let out a low woof.

"Hey," Mutt said. "I'm Mutt."

All nine sets of eyes looked up to him with mesmerized expressions. Clearly they were not used to anything outside their white bread neighborhood. A greaser was certainly on the list of things rarely seen.

"_You're_ Nessie's boyfriend?" A brunet with the same green eyes as Vanessa asked with an admiring astonishment.

"Oh, no. I'm just her friend." Mutt told him. "Do you think every guy who comes to the house is dating her?"

"No," a blonde boy piped up. "But she's always talking about you to her friends."

"Yeah," another chimed in. "'He's such a-'"

"Paul, shut up right now." Vanessa snapped from the archway, her cheeks were pink. "Or I will happily tell Mother who ruined her flowers." The boy, Paul scowled and then quieted. Mutt had a cheeky smile on his face. Vanessa gave him a look.

"So, ten kids? How'd your mom do it?" He asked changing the subject.

"Seven kids." She corrected, her face still flushed. "That's James, Paul, Bobby and Benny on the couch. And the two on Norman," The collie looked up at his name. "Are Eric and Steven. I can only hope those are the neighbors' kids and my mother hasn't been popping out any more children."

Mutt laughed. "'S still a lot of kids."

"You have no idea."

* * *

When Mrs. Clark arrived back from grocery shopping, Mutt expected to be thrown out. What kind of mother would want such a bad influence around her innocent young boys and even worse, her terribly naïve, easily taken advantage of teenage daughter? But she welcomed him with open arms. Julia Clark fancied herself a regular Mother Teresa of suburban Connecticut, feeding stray children and rescuing greasers from the streets.

"Mutt? What a clever nickname!" She exclaimed upon being introduced to him. Mutt was slightly taken aback by her enthusiasm but he couldn't deny how much he enjoyed the adoration. There was no doubt his parents loved him unconditionally, but this was borderline worship. "Please, let me take your jacket. Oh you must stay for dinner, you must be starving!"

She didn't give him a chance to reply, simply removing his jacket and ushering him and Vanessa into the den with the boys who were still watching the television, just in a new seating arrangement. Vanessa scooted her brothers off the couch to make room for Mutt before taking a seat on the floor. Bobby, one of the twin toddlers crawled across the couch over to the greaser, looking at him with large gray eyes. The boy had an expectant look upon his small face. What he was waiting for, Mutt did not know. He wasn't entirely sure what to do. Being an only child with no cousins, he didn't know what to do around children, much less two year olds. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his comb. He carefully fixed his hair and then handed it to Bobby. The boy held it in his hand, gave Mutt a partially toothed smile and put the comb upon his head.

* * *

By some miracle, all ten people, the nine Clarks and Mutt, managed to fit around the dining room table. It was a tight squeeze but a pleasant meal nonetheless. Mutt was surprised to learn he had to do very little to gain Mr. Clark's approval. Simply leaving him alone was enough for him. After an excruciatingly long day working as an attorney for a major law firm, all he wanted to do was rest when he got home, quite a bit to ask for someone who had seven children.

After dinner, when Mr. and Mrs. Clark were talking in the living room over tea and the boys were out playing in the yard with Norman in the last light of the evening, Vanessa pulled Mutt up the stairs quietly. He pulled away quickly to retrieve his jacket before returning and following her up to the second floor.

"Where we goin'?" He whispered.

"You'll see." Vanessa replied. She led him into a room that was distinctly feminine in spite of the neutral coloring and ambiguous furniture. Before Mutt could get a good look around, he saw Vanessa opening a window and crawling out onto the roof.

"What are you doing?" Mutt demanded, leaning out after her. She laid out with her hands behind her head.

"Come on, it's so nice out here." She beckoned. Mutt looked at her like she was crazy. "What? You're not scared are you?"

Never one to admit his fear, he climbed out the window and onto the black shingles before he joined Vanessa with a smirk on his face.

"Course I'm not scared." He told her. They laid upon the roof in silence, not an awkward silence, but rather a peaceful, serene silence. The only sounds were those of nature and the faint sound of the boys winding down for the night. It was nearing seven and stars were just beginning to appear in the late October sky.

"What do we do now?" Mutt asked. He had a feeling it was an opportune moment for romance, but he didn't want to be wrong.

"We can talk if you'd like." Vanessa replied, turning over to him.

"This is kinda nice." He said, looking up at the stars. He felt a little strange saying that, and even stranger for laying on a roof, but he knew Vanessa wouldn't judge him. He looked over to her and noticed she was only wearing a short sleeved blouse.

"You cold?" He asked as he removed his treasured leather jacket and held it out to her.

"Your jacket?" She said in feigned shock. "What an honor!"

Mutt placed the jacket over her shoulders. Due to about a half foot difference in height, the sleeves nearly touched her knees. Mutt smiled and laid back, but Vanessa did not join him. She wasn't laughing, just sitting beside him in an oversized jacket.

"What?" Mutt asked, thinking he had done something. Vanessa said nothing, she simply leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips.

* * *

Sorry it took me forever to update! My mom broke the internet, if that makes any sense, and then I forgot the email address I use for this account.


	4. Thinking

Okay, this chapter is going to be atrociously short but the next chapter will be up in a few hours and it'll be a lot longer

* * *

Indiana Jones sat at his desk in his dimly lit office grading his class's recent papers. It was times like this when he longed for the excitement and adventure of the old days. Though he enjoyed teaching, the days had begun to blend into each other, forming one mass of lectures and questions and grading rather than individual days. It was only a month into the school year and he already pined for something different. He stopped his grading and looked out the window into the dark, thinking until he heard a sound from the door.

He turned to see a man standing in the door frame.  
"It's been far too long, Dr. Jones."

* * *


	5. An Unexpected Visitor

_"It's been far too long, Dr. Jones."_

* * *

"Who are you?" Indiana demanded, getting up from his desk, prepared to fight. The man stepped closer into the faint light of the table lamp.

"After all our years of friendship, you don't recognize me?" The man spoke with a distinct Egyptian accent. Indy's arms fell from their defensive position.

"Sallah?" A wide smile appeared on the older man's face before pulling Indy into a bone crushing bear hug. "What have you been up to all these years? How are Fayah and the kids?"

Sallah's face fell at the mention of his children. Indy was confused, the Sallah he knew was always happy to talk about his many children and no doubt after nearly twenty years he'd be thrilled to boast about their accomplishments.

"There are pressing matters at hand, Indiana Jones. Perhaps there is someplace better for us to discuss them?" Sallah asked.

"What's going on?"

"Please, this is not the place."

* * *

Indy and Sallah arrived at the Jones residence in less than a half an hour. Indy could see Mutt's motorcycle in the garage but the lack of Marion's car meant his wife was still at work.

"Alright," Indy said. "What is it you needed to tell me about?"

"Word of your exploits in South America reached me all the way in Cairo. I need your help, Indy. They're back." Sallah told his old friend.

"Who is back?" Indy asked. He was confused, though he had had many rivals over the years, most if not all had met their demises.

"The Russians, the Russians are back. They are searching for an object of unimaginable power. They are searching for Pandora's Box."

"What do you need me to do?"

"You must return to Egypt with me. From there we can plan how to stop them."

"I can't go to Egypt. I have my job and… too much at stake now. I'm getting old, Sallah." Indy admitted.

"They've taken Moshti." Sallah told him dolorously. Indy remembered Moshti; he was Sallah's eldest child, a bright boy who clearly destined for great things.

"Why would they take him? Does he know something?"

"He always admired you. He's an archaeologist, one of the best in Cairo." The pain caused by the loss of his son was clear on his face. Indy placed a weathered hand upon the old Egyptian's shoulder. Sallah composed himself before continuing. "The Box still holds a power beyond any the world has ever seen. If the Soviets get their hands on it, we are all doomed."

Indy's head was spinning. One minute he had been grading papers and now he was faced with a potentially life changing decision.

"I do not need an answer right now," Sallah handed Indy a slip of paper. "You can reach me at this hotel."

And with that, he was gone. Indy sat on the couch with his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. He could barely think. Had this occurred six months earlier, he would have been on the first flight to Cairo. But now there was much more to take into consideration; he and Marion were newly married, it didn't seem right to leave her for an undetermined amount of time to go head to head with gaurenteed danger. And Mutt, he'd barely even been in the boy's life and he'd be leaving again. On the other hand, if the Russians did find the Box, there was no telling what they would use it for.

"I'm getting too old for this."

* * *

Sorry I took hella long to update. Thanks to a mix of global warming and my town just sucking, there's been a ton of blackouts lately. So just hang in there while I try to keep squeezing these puppies out between power outages.


	6. Cairo?

Sky-Pirate325, this one's for you.

* * *

Vanessa pulled away after several seconds. Mutt had a stunned look upon his face, causing her to blush.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I just thought-"

But Mutt cut her off with a kiss of his own. Vanessa buried her hands in his surprisingly soft brown hair and for the first time since the age of 15, he didn't care if his carefully sculpted pompadour was messed up. He attempted to roll himself and Vanessa over, not noticing how close they were to the ledge. He went over Vanessa just fine, but he also ended up rolling right off the side of the house.

"Mutt!" Vanessa screamed, leaning over the edge to see the greaser plummeting straight into a fortunately overgrown bush. "Are you okay?"

There was some muffled grunting and Mutt eventually crawled out from the bush with several twigs in his hair, nothing but his pride injured.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

* * *

Mutt winced as he removed his shirt to examine the damage done by his fall. An enormous bruise consumed the better half of his right side, beginning at the middle of his ribs and traveling all the way to his hip. He knew he was fortunate not to have endured any serious injuries but this fact did not by any means alleviate the pain. He leaned against the wall only to quickly jump away, yelping in pain upon discovering yet another bruise, comparable to the on covering his side, covering the outer part of his arm from shoulder to elbow. Searching for any comfort, he reached into his pocket, searching for his comb. He ran it through his hair only to find another twig lodged in his once perfect locks. Were this any other occasion, he'd likely have scowled and thrown it in the trash, but considering the circumstances, he couldn't help but smile. He placed the twig on his virtually unused desk before heading downstairs.

* * *

Marion arrived at home much later than she had intended. She opened the door and sat down on the couch, kicking off her shoes and closing her eyes. Due to Mutt's compliance with the rules regarding school she had felt confident in returning to work, but although she was thrilled to be rid of the housewife facade, she wasn't used to the long hours. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the moment of rare silence in the house.

"Ma?" Mutt's voice snapped Marion from her reverie. he eyes widened as she saw the bruises that covered her child.

"What happened to you?" She exclaimed, rushing over to him and examining his injuries.

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"Fine? Mutt, you're covered in bruises! How are you fine?"

"I, uh, I fell... down the, uh, stairs." Mutt lied. "I tripped over my books."

"Honey, you need to be more careful. You could have broken your neck!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I just wanted some ice."

"Here, come with me." Marion led her son to the kitchen and didn't complain when he sat down on the counter. She removed the ice trays from the freezer and wrapped the cubes in napkins. "Sit tight, I'm just going to see if your dad is home."

She left him in the kitchen as she made her way through the house.

"Jones? You home?" She called. She walked into the study where she found Indiana seated at the desk with his head in his hands. "What's wrong with you?"

Indiana looked up.

"I think I have to go to Cairo." He told her. Marion was confused for a moment.

"Oh, you mean the honeymoon! It's about time we went on our's. You know I'd love to see Sallah and his family but I was thinking about going somewhere-"

"No, I don't mean the honeymoon." Indy sighed. "Sallah needs my help..."

* * *

"So when do we leave?" Marion asked once Indiana explained the situation at hand.

"_We_? I haven't even decided if _I'm_ going, much less bringing you along. Indy told her.

"Well of course you're going. Just think of all the things Sallah has done for you in the past. How can you refuse him the one time he comes to you for help? And I'm going whether you want me to or not."

"No you aren't."

"If you go to Cairo, and you are going, so do I."

"We're going to Egypt?" A voice from the doorway asked. The couple looked up to see their son leaning against the doorframe, on his good arm of course, eating what appeared to be leftover pizza. Indy looked over his son's battered form. Mutt scowled. "Are we going to Egypt?"

"No, _we_ are not going anwhere." Indy said.

"Your father and I are going to Egypt." Marion told him.

"I wanna go."

"You're not going." Both parents snapped. Mutt was taken aback by their sudden irritability but soon saw that for once, it was not caused by him.

"And neither are you, Sweetheart." Indy said with feigned sweetness, turing to his wife. She went to object but was cut off. Her husband was no longer playing around. "This isn't a goddamn family vacation! This is a serious matter and I'm not going to put either of you in danger. For Christ's sake I just got you back in my life, I'm not going to risk losing you again. I'm going to Cairo, by myself, this better be the last I hear about it. Neither of you are coming, and that's final."

* * *

Sorry I took a wicked long time to update again. The heat wave may be over, but now I have hail to look forward to.


	7. A Family Affair

* * *

Indiana awoke much earlier than he would have liked. He groaned and looked over at the alarm clock on the end table on his side of the bed. Nine o'clock, far too early for a Saturday. As he stretched out, yawning loudly, he was surprised by the sight he befell. His bedroom appeared to have been ransacked. All of the drawers in the armoire were ajar and the door to the walk in closet across from the bed was opened.

"Morning, honey." Marion chirped, causing Indy to jump. She made her way over to a large kit bag at the foot of the bed and placed two shirts into it.

"Uh, sweetie? What are you doing?" Indy asked, sitting up.

"I'm packing, you should get started too." She told him. Indy raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't I tell you you're not coming?" He asked.

"Didn't I tell you I am?" She retorted. Before he could say anything else, Mutt walked in through the open door.

"Mom, I need another bag." He told his mother.

"Here you go." She said tossing him an empty duffel bag. "Don't over pack now; we've got to be able to carry our things with us." Indy sat with his mouth agape.

"There is no 'us,' Marion. You two are not going with me." He said, clambering out of bed.

"Jesus Dad, put a shirt on." Mutt pleaded, covering his eyes. Indy ignored his son and looked to his wife for an answer.

"Actually, we are. And there isn't a thing you can do to stop us." Marion replied before turning to Mutt. "Be sure to pack the first aid kit, too. Gauze and antiseptics, just in case."

"Sure thing, Mom." Mutt went to leave but was blocked by his father's arm.

"Don't you dare." He growled. Marion placed her hands on her hips.

"Just ignore him, sweetheart," She told her son. "And if you plan on bringing your bike it had better be ready. We're leaving early tomorrow."

Mutt smirked at Indy before pushing past and heading to find the medical supplies his mother had requested. Indy turned to his wife.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He demanded. "I told you already, you aren't coming."

"I'm not a child, Jones. I'll go wherever I please, whenever I please, with or without your permission so you'd best get used to it." Indy ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

"Fine, if you absolutely have to come along, fine. But Mutt is staying home."

"Oh, I really think you'd rather he came. Ox isn't around to look after him."

"So? He's 19 years old for Christ's sake. He doesn't need a babysitter, he's old enough to stay home alone." Marion raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Really now? You weren't around when he was 15 and 'old enough to stay home alone.'" She told him. "He invited 50 kids over and turned the stairs into an indoor water slide. You do not want to leave him by himself."

"I hate this."

* * *

Early the next morning the three Joneses sat around the dining room table eating their breakfasts of cold cereal and orange juice in relative silence. It was far too early to have prepared a proper breakfast and they would be fine with the Sugar Jets cereal Mutt had insisted be purchased. They were all too tired to actually taste it any way.

"I was thinking I could maybe ride my bike to the airport rather than just throw it in the trunk." He said, taking a break from his cereal. "It'd save a load of time if I got it on the plane before you all got there."

"Sure honey," Marion said groggily. "Just don't get lost going there."

"I won't."

Two hours later Marion, Indiana and Sallah arrived at the small plane to see an attendant pushing Mutt's motorcycle up a ramp and into the cargo hold.

"So I finally get to meet your son, Indy?" Sallah asked with a wide grin as the trio handed their bags to the attendant to add to the cargo. This was the first bit of conversation the archaeologist had been invited to take part in since Sallah got into the car. He and Marion had been chattering away happily while Indy was either driving or lugging duffel bags.

"Yep, he's probably already on the plane, I'll go get him." Indy climbed up the portable stairs that had been placed for boarding. "Mutt? You in here?" He called. There was a bit of rustling and some incomprehensible muttering before his son hurried out, almost knocking him over in the process. His hair was messed up and he lacked his signature jacket.

"What's shakin', Daddio?" He asked, trying to look as if everything was normal. Indy raised an eyebrow at his son's odd behavior but decided not to ask. He led Mutt down the steps and to the beaming Egyptian.

"Mutt, this is Sallah. He's been a friend of your mother and I since well before you were born." Indy told him.

"Hey." Mutt said, holding out his hand. Sallah's smile widened and he pulled the youth into a bone crushing bear hug. Mutt was greatly taken aback by this gesture but managed to pat the Egyptian on the back while struggling to breathe. "Nice to meet you too."

"Well how about we get going?" Marion suggested, freeing her son from Sallah's affectionate death grip. "There's no time to lose."

* * *

I apologize for the billionth time for the long wait. I've been prepping myself for writing action scenes. I've seen so many crazy violent action-packed films in the last three days my head could explode.


	8. Explainations

**I GOT MY HUNDREDTH REVIEW!! Lovvins to all those who reviewed and some extra special lovvins to darkdestiney2000 for supplying me with my HUNDREDTH REVIEW! Anyway, I was so thrilled by this that (after my minor heart attack) I finished this chapter much earlier than I originally planned. So enjoy and keep reviewing!**

* * *

Sallah and the Joneses made themselves comfortable in the plane's cabin. Indy was proud to say he had managed to snag them a much nicer airplane than the retired war plane he and Mutt had been forced to take to Peru. This one, though still very small, was considerably larger and had many more favorable amenities including a lavatory and adequate seating. Within the first hour after takeoff the group was comfortably settled in, Sallah had fallen into a deep slumber, despite the roar of the engines outside his window while Marion was reading with Indy leaning against the window opposite her, absentmindedly picking his nails.

Mutt stepped out of the bathroom for the fourth time since boarding and wiped his mouth. His face was slightly flushed.

"Are you feeling alright?" Indy asked. He didn't recall his son getting airsick during the flight to Peru.

"What? Yeah, of course I'm fine." Mutt answered quickly. "Never been better."

He took a seat next to his mother who worriedly placed a hand to his forehead, only for Mutt to swat it away. "I'm fine."

"Whatever you say." Indy said getting up and heading to the back of the plane. Mutt's eye widened.

"Wait! You can't go in there!" Mutt exclaimed.

"Why the hell not? I didn't call in a favor to have a restroom just for the fun of it."

"Because… because… it's really small, I mean really small. I started getting coulrophobic in there."

"Claustrophobic, honey," Marion said without looking up from her book. "Coulrophobia is a fear of clowns." Before Mutt could say anything else, Indy stopped him.

"I'm not quite sure what you have against me using the bathroom, but you're going to have to deal with that on your own."

With that, he entered the restroom, closing the door behind him. He reached around for the light switch when he heard a rustle near him. He turned quickly and felt arms wrap around his neck.

"Back already?" A female voice asked playfully before kissing him softly. Indy struggled to get away, backing into the door. "What's wrong?" Indy groped around for the light. He flicked it on revealing both that the bathroom was actually fairly spacious by plane standards and that a young blonde woman was in the bathroom with him. Her eyes widened when she saw who she had kissed and she screamed loudly. Indy flung open the door and pulled the girl out roughly by her arm

"Mutt, who the hell is this and what is she doing on this plane?" He boomed. Both Mutt and Marion jumped, Sallah had some how remained asleep.

"Now, Dad, before you get mad-" Mutt began, trying to calm his father down.

"I'm way past mad, you'd best get to explaining."

"Jones, you're scaring the poor girl." Marion said, interrupting the father-son showdown. She pulled the girl away from her husband and over to the seat beside her. "You can continue." She told him.

"Well?" Indy demanded. The nineteen year old sighed.

* * *

_Mutt pulled up outside the __Clark__ household. Though it was a fairly inviting home during the day, it was intimidating without proper lighting. Not to mention the fact that the doghouse in the front of the yard was now occupied by the __Clark__'s very large dog. He gulped and made his way over to the fence. He began to open it but the creaking caused the animal several yards away to stir.  
"Shit." He muttered, realizing he'd have to jump it. He quickly but carefully combed through his hair and then backed up to get a running start for a clean jump over the fence._

___Success! He made it over without a sound. Now he had to decide how exactly he would get Vanessa. He couldn't go to the door; it was __five thirty__ in the morning. He couldn't crawl in through one of the first floor windows either, he'd have to go past the other three bedrooms until he reached Vanessa's bedroom at the end of the hall. He went around the side of the house and looked around for some way to get in. He passed the bush he had fallen the other day and finally at the back of the house he discovered what he needed. An iron trellis covered in roses lined a good portion of the siding.  
'Piece of cake.' He thought to himself as began to climb. Unfortunately, he quickly learned it was quite difficult to climb with rose thorns digging into one's hands but he was far too close to just give up. He pulled himself up onto the ledge outside Vanessa's window and painstakingly plucked the thorns from his hands before opening the mercifully unlocked window and climbing in. Beside the window Vanessa laid sleeping peacefully. _

___"Vanessa," Mutt hissed, gently shaking her shoulder. "Vanessa, wake up!"_

___"I don't wanna…" She grumbled, barely awake._

___"Come on, doll. It's me, Mutt." It took a second for this to settle in before she shot up._

___"What are you doing here?" She demanded. "It's the middle of –" Mutt cupped her mouth to compress the sound._

___"Do you want to wake up the whole house? I gotta talk to you." He told her. He removed his hand from her mouth and sat on the bed. "I'm going to __Egypt__ today. I'm probably not gonna be back for a while. I want you to come with me."_

___"To __Egypt__? Are you serious? I'd love to go!" She told him excitedly. Her face fell. "But I can't, my parents didn't even let me walk around the corner by myself until I was 14. They'd never let me go."_

___"Just make something up, tell 'em it's a class trip to __Washington__ or something." Mutt urged. "Please?"_

___Vanessa had to think for a moment. One minute she was just sleeping and now she was being asked to leave the country for an extended period of time for reasons unknown to her. She had to think. She had always been a good kid, got along okay with her brothers, did what her parents told her, never broke curfew and certainly never lied to her parents about leaving the country. Abut as she looked at this, it became clear to her: her life here was boring, monotonous. The chance to do something so radically different and exciting did not come up every day and she would not likely have another opportunity to be completely free from all restrictions any time soon. So what was she to do? Play it safe and sit at home while her life passed her by, or disobey her parents' wishes and experience the dangerous excitement of being a 'bad girl' for the first time in her life.  
_

___"I'll go."_

* * *

"You talked this poor girl into lying to her family so you could make her join you in your...your... debauchery?" Indy demanded. "You put her life in danger so you could have a little fun on the way? This is why I didn't want to bring you along, Mutt. You do things like this without thinking. How could you be so -"

"Indy, stop." Marion ordered. Both Vanessa and Mutt had ashamed looks upon their young faces. "He messed up, you've done some pretty stupid things too."

"Marion, he-" Indy was dumbfounded. Since when was no one on his side? True his wife had always been a bit difficult, to put it lightly, but this was a serious situation.

"Enough. We'll call Vanessa's parents when we get to Cairo and put her on the first flight back to the States."

"Fine."


	9. An Old Rival?

Almost an hour after the bathroom "incident" Vanessa's cheeks were still bright pink. Throwing herself her boyfriend's father was not how she envisioned herself meeting his parents. Around her things had finally settled down. Indiana had begrudgingly calmed down and was lying out across the seat opposite Vanessa, propped up by a small bag with Marion leaning against his chest, still reading. Mutt was peacefully sleeping with his head resting on Vanessa's shoulder. Despite this, her face still burned and as soon as she felt it beginning to cool, she'd catch a glimpse at Indy and immediately her cheeks would redden again.

'How could I have confused them?' She wondered, mentally kicking herself. True as father and son they were bound to resemble each other but there was a 35 year age difference, how could she miss that? And what was she supposed to tell Mutt?

"Nothing," she told herself. "It wasn't like I meant to kiss him, no harm no foul, right?"

Her inner monologue was interrupted when Mutt nuzzled the crook of her neck, causing her to jump. Mutt's eyes opened.

"Something bothering you, babe?" He asked groggily. Vanessa shook her head quickly.

"No, I'm fine. Just go back to sleep." She said, kissing his temple to reassure him. The greaser smiled tiredly and cuddled back into her neck. "I'm fine."

* * *

What felt like years later, the plane landing in the bustling Cairo airport. Marion went to the now opened door, looked around and let out a whistle. "It sure has changed since the last time we were all here together." She said. Indy nodded.

"It certainly has." He said before turning to their son and jerking him awake. "We're here, Junior. Get up."

"I'm up, I'm up. Cool it, Pops." Mutt said groggily as he flailed aimlessly trying to swat his father away. Once the elder Jones backed off he sat up and stretched before turning to Vanessa and gently shaking her shoulder. "C'mon, doll. We're here." The blonde grumbled a bit but resentfully got up.

"So I guess I'm going back to the States now, huh?" She asked once out of her seat.

"Yeah, I guess so." Mutt replied rather contritely. "I'll help you get your stuff to your next plane."

Vanessa smiled sadly before taking his hand. The pair walked out of the plane, past a very confused Sallah.

"Who is that?" He asked Indy bewildered. "You don't have a daughter you forgot to tell me about, do you?" Marion chuckled.

"That's Mutt's girlfriend. He apparently snuck her onto the plane before takeoff. Indy found her when you were asleep." She told the old Egyptian. Indy felt rather awkward when she mentioned his discovery. "She's going to be heading back to the States, so don't worry. Come on, now. We shouldn't be wasting time up here."

"You're absolutely right." Sallah agreed, getting up rather woozily. He hadn't left his seat since the plane left Connecticut many hours earlier. He gained his balance and then went out and down the steps, leaving Marion and Indy alone

"How could he be so stupid? Bringing that girl along. If I hadn't found her when I did-" Indy fumed.

"What would have happened? Would the world have collapsed?" Marion asked, starting down the stairs. Indy followed after her. "Mutt is happy and from what I can see with a nice girl. You don't know what his old girlfriends were like. You didn't have to pick him up from the hospital after he fainted when getting a tattoo to 'prove his love' to Angel Samuels."

"Our son has a tattoo? When did this happen?"

"When he was 17, but that's not the point. Vanessa seems like a nice girl, she won't be getting him into trouble."

As their feet touched solid ground for the first time since they left from Connecticut, they saw a woman approaching them. She was tall and about thirty with dark brown, nearly black hair pulled back in a tight knot. Her icy blue eyes were cold and unfeeling.

"I suggest you come with me, Dr. Jones." She spoke with a heavily accented voice with a coldness that matched her eyes. Indy and Marion looked at each other and then back at the woman.

"Excuse me?" Indy asked.

"I advise you to do exactly as I say," she told him as a group of well armed soldiers approached with a gagged Sallah. "For not only your life is dependent upon it."

"Who are you and what the hell do you want?" Marion demanded. She woman gave the Americans a cold smile.

"I believe you knew my sister."

* * *

Okay, I know it seems a bit corny, Spalko's sister and all, but I assure you, it'll make sense.


	10. Announcement

Sorry I'm taking so long to update, what with job hunting and writer's block I haven't been able to do much of anything lately. I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about this and I'll be updating as soon as I can.


End file.
